A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device with a directional bonus scheme wherein players receive credits for positions randomly selected by the gaming device.
Gaming machines currently exist with bonus schemes in which a player has one or more opportunities to choose a particular selection or symbol from a group of symbols. The player randomly chooses a symbol having a predetermined credit value. The bonus scheme either awards the player a bonus value or terminates the bonus round. The outcome depends upon each particular symbol selected by the player.
When the player selects a symbol which awards a bonus or credit value, the player receives bonus credits. Each time the player selects a symbol which awards a bonus value, the bonus scheme typically displays a message for the player to continue. This message indicates that the bonus round continues and another symbol may be selected. The gaming device selects another symbol, and this process continues until the player selects a bonus round terminator which terminates the bonus round. European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 A2 filed on Mar. 18, 1999 and assigned on its face to WMS Gaming, Inc. discloses a bonus scheme generally of this type. Many other bonus games are known. Since players are seeking more entertainment and enjoyment, it is desirable to provide players with new bonus schemes where the players have multiple opportunities to receive winning payouts.
The present invention overcomes the above shortcomings by providing a gaming device and method which provides players with a directional bonus scheme. The directional bonus scheme of the present invention provides a player with a plurality of positions. The gaming device randomly selects the direction of movement from a starting position to a plurality of positions and then to a terminating position.
Preferably, the majority of the positions are non-terminating positions which have credit values, where the amount of the credit values varies. Certain positions terminate the bonus round (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cterminating positionsxe2x80x9d). When the position indicator is at any non-terminating position, the game will preferably award the player with a bonus or credit value and then continue the bonus round.
In operation, the device randomly chooses a direction of movement for the position indicator (which represents the player""s position). If the game directs movement to a non-terminating position, the game awards the player a bonus or credit value. As long as the player avoids a terminating position, the game randomly selects another direction of movement and moves the position indicator to such position. The player receives bonus or credit values as appropriate. This process continues until the device ultimately selects a terminating position. The gaming device thus randomly creates a bonus or credit path. Preferably, the game include a final position which awards the player with a larger bonus or credit value and terminates the game.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the positions are represented by squares in a grid. The majority of positions are identical in size and shape. The player causes the game to randomly select a direction of movement by activating a button such as by touching a spin button on a touch screen. After the gaming device randomly chooses a direction of movement, the device moves the position indicator to the position in that direction. If the position is a terminating position, the bonus round terminates. If the position is a non-terminating position, the game awards the player with a bonus or credit value and the player is prompted to request another directional movement. It should be appreciated that the terminating positions could be positioned differently or randomly in each bonus round.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gaming device with a directional bonus scheme.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.